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ESA chooses instruments for its Jupiter ICy moons Explorer

Planned for launch in 2022 and arrival at Jupiter in 2030, JUICE will spend at least three years making detailed observations of the biggest planet in the solar system and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa.

The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer mission (JUICE) will carry a total of 11 scientific experiments to study the gas giant planet and its large ocean-bearing moons, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced last week.

JUICE is the first large-class mission in the ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 program. Planned for launch in 2022 and arrival at Jupiter in 2030, it will spend at least three years making detailed observations of the biggest planet in the solar system and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa.

These moons are thought to harbor vast water oceans beneath their icy surfaces, and JUICE will map their surfaces, sound their interiors, and assess their potential for hosting life in their oceans.

On February 21, ESA’s Science Program Committee approved a complement of instruments that includes cameras and spectrometers, a laser altimeter, and an ice-penetrating radar. The mission also will carry a magnetometer, plasma and particle monitors, and radio science hardware.

The instruments will be developed by scientific teams from 15 European countries, the United States, and Japan through corresponding national funding.

“The selection of JUICE’s instruments is a key milestone in ESA’s flagship mission to the outer solar system, which represents an unprecedented opportunity to showcase leading European technological and scientific expertise,” said Alvaro Giménez Cañete from ESA.

“The suite of instruments addresses all of the mission’s science goals, from in-situ measurements of Jupiter’s vast magnetic field and plasma environment, to remote observations of the surfaces and interiors of the three icy moons,” said Luigi Colangeli, also from ESA.

Throughout its mission, JUICE will observe Jupiter’s atmosphere and magnetosphere, and the interaction of all four Galilean satellites — the three icy moons plus Io — with the gas giant planet.

The spacecraft will perform a dozen flybys of Callisto, the most heavily cratered object in the solar system, and will fly past Europa twice in order to make the first measurements of the thickness of its icy crust.

JUICE will end up in orbit around Ganymede, where it will study the moon’s icy surface and internal structure, including its subsurface ocean.

The largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede is the only one known to generate its own magnetic field, and JUICE will observe the unique magnetic and plasma interactions with Jupiter’s magnetosphere in detail.

“Jupiter and its icy moons constitute a kind of mini-solar system in their own right, offering European scientists and our international partners the chance to learn more about the formation of potentially habitable worlds around other stars,” said Dmitrij Titov, ESA’s JUICE study scientist.

The selection of the instruments today helps ensure that JUICE remains on schedule for launch in 2022.